Lil Daggers and Livid Records Part Ways

In a surprising move, Lil Daggers have parted ways with our good friends over at Livid Records, America's friendliest indie label. Although some might argue that Livid does not have the means to support the Daggers to the next step of indie superstardom, some will say that they were a good, homegrown match for each other.

Me? I don't give three shits if the following occurs: a) Livid retains the rights to repress their debut 7" and b) whenever the Daggers make it big, they bring along some label-mates along for tour support. Got to make that sweet merch money!

Now, the rumor mill has begun, and while nothing is confirmed, one of my sources claims that one of the three regular music vendors (Santana, Mass Kompa, and Nicolato's) from the Opa-Locka/Hialeah Flea Market will be releasing their full-length effort. I find that one a little hard to believe, but shit, who knows? That's pretty punk rock.

The Daggers' Jacob Israel spoke to Crossfade about it. "It came to light that the record had just been sent out to press three weeks after the release date," Israel says. "We are unhappy about it and decided it would be best to release it ourselves."

Since then, Livid voiced his side of the story in an email:

1. Lil Daggers was fully aware of the delay on the LP. As a matter of fact, as of yesterday I was still waiting for them to submit the artwork for the LP jackets.

2. Lil Daggers were making deals with other labels for the King Corpse 7" without letting me know, which could have jeopardized my agreement with the distributor. I had no problem with the record being released elsewhere, I just wanted to be aware of what they were doing in regards to that record.

3. When I told Jacob that I would have to put the record on hold at the presses while we came out with a mutual agreement, he said "I'll pay you for the records when they get here. If not eat those 500 and ill press it myself." When I said I wouldn't agree to get paid later, his ultimatum was: "You're a dude putting out records from your house. I'm not down w signing anything."

Lil Daggers left because of a licensing issue, they chose to go with a label in Scotland. Livid did not ask of Lil Daggers anything that any other indie label wouldn't have.

Time will tell, in the meantime, click here for their most recent video.